Ghoomer Review: Abhishek Bachchan, Saiyami Kher Lead A Patriotic Film Fueled By Love For Cricket & Top Notch Performances

R Balki's directorial 'Ghoomer' starring Abhishek Bachchan, Saiyami Kher has nothing new to tell; it is a predictable tale of passion, talent, loss and sacrifice and ultimate victory.

New Delhi: There are two kinds of patriotic films: one which use propaganda and engineer their entire screenplay on the premise of hatred for another party/state/ideology and second, which uses more personal themes like individual courage, passion, sacrifice and relate it to patriotism or love for the nation in the form of passion for a sport. 'Ghoomer' by R Balki starring Abhishek Bachchan, Saiyami Kher and Shabana Azmi is a film that belongs to the second category.

Ghoomer Movie Story

Saiyami Kher plays an aspiring cricketer whose dedication and passion for her fame is inspiring until an unfortunate accident causes right arm amputation and the batwoman loses the zeal to live. In comes Abhishek Bachchan, in the form of a former Test-cricketer ( bowler) whose luck or perhaps circumstances did not allow him to play for India. This disgruntled, drunkard of a man becomes Saiyami's coach and helps her become a left-arm spinner, a first of a kind, and play for the Indian National Team.

Is Ghoomer Based On A Real Story?

The R Balki film begins with a disclaimer stating that 'Ghoomer' has been inspired by the life of the Olympic gold medalist Károly Takács , a Hungarian shooter whose right arm was severely injured while handling a faulty grenade. However, this did not dissuade Takács from pursuing his shooting career. He switched to shooting with his left hand. He too practiced in secret, surprising all when he won the pistol shooting championship in the spring of 1939.

Ghoomer Movie Review

For starters, 'Ghoomer' has nothing new to tell; it is a predictable tale of passion, talent, loss and sacrifice and then ultimate victory. 

It belongs more to Kabir Khan's latent school of patriotic filmmaking best exemplified by his last release '83 starring Ranveer Singh in the lead.

'Ghoomer' set in a template of predictability does nail a few things. 

One for instance, it loathes self pity for its protagonist and lead actor Saiyami Kher. Here, the writing plays a crucial role.

Right from the first scene, you are literally bowled into the film that has a pace set on a tight-rope and goes around its business with a no nonsense attitude.

'Ghoomer' thakfully, like so many films in this genre, does not do background character establishing, a great writing hack to totally commend which makes Kher's performance even more raw.

Second, it deploys a transwoman character and yet problematically deals with her with utmost ruthlessness and brutality.

Third, 'Ghoomer' has veterans like Shabana Azmi and Amitabh Bachchan who lend star and veteran power to a subject that could become easily patronized. 

Ghoomer star cast performances

This brings me to the performances of the star cast of 'Ghoomer. 

Abhishek Bachchan as Paddy sir, is a delight to watch. His disgruntled, drunken self almost emulating the baritone voice of his father, always bordering on the sidelines of society as a rejected figure of talent is a new shade of cricketer seen on screen.

Meanwhile, Saiyami Kher is top-notch. Her game and her acting chops, very-well flexed and used in 'Ghoomer' lend a sense of relatable context and yet preserve the innocence of young ambition, passion and guts.

Shabana Azmi, plays Saiyami's grandmother, who champions her throughout the film in the most untypical, non-overbearing kind of manner. Like she says in the film, she is a Federer fan, she is not a person to show many emotions.

Amitabh Bachchan in special appearance lends the desired gravitas and emotion to scenes of immense courage, naked patriotic fervour and love for cricket.

Angad Bedi, on the other hand, is more ornamental than instrumental in any sense barring a scene or two. However, he does bring a sense of empathy and discussion that needed more that just a scene to explore.

Ghoomer Music 

The music of the film suits the genre. The background score matches the tempo of the toned down film in the first half versus the exploding second half which is amply filled with the variations of Ghoomer's title track.

The music of Amit Trivedi really blends well with the context of the film and becomes more of an organic narrative device that helps achieve a sequence or scene's purpose. 

'Purnaviram' from the album is a great track.

Ghoomer Camera Work

The cinematography by Vishal Sinha complements the tonality of the film. 

Ample use of closeups, master shots, overhead shots, POV shots, dolly shots,  mid-shots are interspersed throughout the film. 

While the first half feels more of a personal journey, the second half with the cricket matches towards the end become representations outside of personal life all interlaced with a variety of camera angles and shots that help tell the story well.

One particularly patriotically emotional scene is Saiyami touching the Indian flag with her left hand as she enters the stadium to play. It's a shot that says almost everything about the protagonist's journey.

Ghoomer Design

The design suits the film well. And, because this is not a rags to riches cricket story, there is just a comfortable use of upper-middle class household setups with no qualms to design a failed cricketer's life or answer how on Earth does he make a living.

Ghoomer problems

There are several and mostly all are plot-centric. A disgruntled ex-bowler ( Abhishek Bachchan's character) complains about the system, the corruption in cricket boards and so much more while Saiyami's character seems to be facing no such odds. 

Despite putting in legit research and showing old footage and talking numbers about cricket's history, there is a superficiality when it comes to showing the women cricket board which is shown as this saint of a governing body championing a good cause sans any discrimination.

Likewise, predictability, the exploited stadium entry shot, the buildup to three act climax, a linear and familiar narrative arch, a violent and physically aggressive protagonist, and so much more, there are many loopholes that Balki seems to have left out. 

In that regard, 'Ghoomer' could have had a more mature lens to correct such problem elements.

Conclusion

Having that said, 'Ghoomer' is a one-time watch with ample dose of motivation to keep you inspired. 

A good weekend watch that sells a nuance or two from the wrapper of predictability, 'Ghoomer' is out in theatres near you.